Part two of Investigating Luthor
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Alice White was a successful prosecuting criminal lawyer who had risen to the top of her profession through handwork, persistence and a determination that other prosecutors admired and made defence attorneys reluctant to take up cases against her.
Her professional attire and steel-eyed determination made her appear cold and ruthless to many, an exterior Alice had worked hard to cultivate. Only her close friends and family knew of the generous, kind spirit the lay beneath.
Dressed for another gruelling day in the office, preparing a case against a small time criminal that had suddenly leaped into the big liege by blowing up a major building, Alice was surprised to hear her apartment doorbell chime.
It’s barely a quarter to seven in the morning, this better be important, thought Alice irritably. Although not due in the office until 9am, Alice was hoping to immerse herself in work, a time-proved cure all for her personal problems.
“I’m coming” yelled Alice, as the doorbell chimed again. Ready to bite of whoever’s head it was that had imposed upon her morning routine, Alice yanked open her front door.
Whoever Alice had thought might be standing at her door, she was not prepared for a tear-streaked Lois Lane. Hiding her surprise, her irritation gone, Alice invited Lois inside.
“I’m sorry to come by so early Alice, I guess I didn’t realise the time. I was wondering if Perry was in?”
Alice grimaced to herself at the mention of Perry. “Actually Lois, he’s not. He’s gone fishing, trying his hand at early retirement.” An activity we were supposed to be doing together, though Alice bitterly.
Although quick to hide her disappointment, Alice had seen Lois’ shoulders slump. Aware of the ‘father/daughter’ type relationship that existed between the two, Alice guessed the visit wasn’t purely professional.
“Is their anything I can do to help Lois?”
Lois was dismayed to find herself fighting tears again. Her hope of getting her fears about Lex off her chest, and having something productive to do, had rested on her being able to talk to Perry. Not wanting to burden Alice, she straightened her shoulders.
“No, it’s fine. Nothing that can’t wait.” Lois lied.
Using the insightful manner that Alice had developed over her years of interacting with distressed people Alice could see that Lois was far from fine. Glad to have something other than work and herself to think of, as well as wanting to help, Alice ushered Lois inside.
“Look, I haven’t seen you in such a long time Lois, please come in and have a cuppa with me. I really would appreciate having someone to talk to at the moment; it’s been lonely without Perry”.
Whilst Lois wanted to be *doing* something, she didn’t want to leave Alice, when she had so openly appealed for a friend. Besides, in her rush to get over here. Lois had neglected to consume her mandatory wake up caffeine drink. So a few minuets later both career ladies were seated at the kitchen table, sipping a much needed coffee, wondering what to say.
Alice surveyed Lois with a practiced eye. Besides the rather obvious tear streaks on Lois’ face, the bags under her eyes suggested a rough night. Alice had no intention of discussing her problems with Lois, but knowing how Lois prided herself on being independent; mentioning her loneliness was the only way Alice could think of getting the obviously upset Lois to stay.
“How are you going since the planet, well, was blown up?” Alice began, trying to get the conversation started.
“Fine, just great. I’ve got a new job.” Lois brightly answered, trying to work out how to talk to Alice about her loneliness.
Alice kept probing, aware of the too cheerful answers Lois was giving. “That’s great, Lois. I always knew you’d be the type to land back on your feet. What’s the job?”
“LNN. It’s a whole different ball game to the paper, but well, it’s a job. And I like to think I make a difference.”
“Luthor Network News, hmm, that’s… nice” Alice politely answered.
Something about the way Alice replied made Lois look up. What did Alice have against LNN?
“Do you know much about LNN Alice?” Lois asked, not realizing she was slipping into investigative mode.
“Well, not much, other than it’s owned by Luthor. Biggest television network on the eastern sea-board. Very profitable too”.
There it was again, Lois thought bitterly, Luthor and Money. If it weren’t for Superman’s declaration that Luthor was a criminal, Lois would probably have missed the look of distaste that crossed Alice’s face as she mentioned Luthor. Suddenly this conversation seemed much more important that just cheering up a lonely Alice.
“You don’t sound like you like Luthor very much.”
“Let’s just say our paths have crossed one time two many for me to buy into his public image.”
Coming from Clark, that statement would have sounded like jealously, but with a new awareness, and a different source, Lois listened intently, and began probing Alice for information.
“Do you think you could talk to me about Luthor, Alice? Most people think Lex is all good, it would really help me to hear from a different point of view”
Over the next half hour, Alice described to Lois her suspicions about Luthor and the way he ran his business. Story after story of shady business deals, companies that unexpectedly went bankrupt, only to be brought up by Luthor for a song, directors who had unfortunate accidents, after refusing to deal with a Luthor owned company, the list went on and on.
At some stage Lois had pulled out her pad and pen and was furiously writing, trying to keep up with names and details.
“So you see, I’ve seen too many of Luthor’s companies in court getting away with serious breaches in corporate Law, or simply getting a slap on the wrist to buy into the ‘philanthropist’ image.” Alice finished with.
“What do you mean ‘get away with’? Surly if it’s gotten to the stage of coming before a judge and been dismissed then there wasn’t enough against the company or the company genuinely was innocent?” Lois asked half-heatedly, already suspecting the answer.
“Lois, I’ve presented some of these cases myself when they relate to criminal law, not just corporate law, and in those cases, evidence has a habit of disappearing, or worse yet, the judge seems to have blinkers on. I also know of other prosecutors who just don’t seem to be able to put a good case together when it comes to Luthor’s companies.”
“What are you suggesting? Crooked cops? Lawyers? Judges? That’s a pretty big accusation”.
“I know, so please don’t print any of this. For years I’ve tried to find a loophole to get Luthor but he always comes up squeaky clean. And yes, I know that Luthor has police and lawyers on his payroll. I wouldn’t be surprised if that extended to Judges as well.”
Alice looked down at her empty coffee cup. She felt drained from finally getting her suspicions about Luthor off her chest. Why she had opened up to Lois was something she didn’t want to think about now. Maybe by convincing Lois, Perry would stop stone-walling her when she tried to talk to him about Luthor.
As though reading her thoughts, Lois asked “Why hasn’t Perry told me about any of this? He’s never said a word to me to discredit Luthor. He hasn’t always like the guy, but surely he would have told me, especially after Luthor pro..” Lois cupped her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to bring up her relationship with Luthor.
Alice had noticed however. “I’ve tried and tried to convince Perry, but he’s never wanted to listen. It’s because of a case I was on years and years ago, when Perry was reassigned to again cover the courthouse for the Daily Planet.” Somehow this conversation had taken on a life of its own, and Alice sighed as she re-examined the painful memories of the past.
“We had met when we both were fresh out of university, and Perry was assigned to cover the courthouse. It was love at first sight for Perry, though it took him almost two years for me to realise I was just as madly in love with him. We had our ups and downs, like all marriages, but the problems really started when I decided to open up my own law firm.”
“Perry and I had been married for almost ten years, and the boys were both in school. Financially it was a risky move. Perry’s income wasn’t great as a beat reporter, and my income was what we mainly depended on. Perry had made concessions so that I could get the collateral I needed to begin my own firm, sacrifices I only recently realised the extent of.”
“Well the firm got up and running and my first case came up. It was a man named Bennett. I had complied a case against him, on very little evidence, of murder in the second degree. Bennett was a man in a very public position, who on the face of things had only ever helped others and society in general. I was convinced he was guilty, and despite his misgivings I managed to convince Perry as well. Perry ran with the story, I prosecuted Bennett and together we effectively destroyed Bennett’s life, only to find out he was innocent after it was too late.”
Lois could see the similarities between Bennett and Luthor and knew from experience what a bust story like that would do to a journalist’s career. No wonder Perry didn’t want to listen to Alice now.
“Besides almost going bankrupt after the firm lost business, Perry missed out on his promotion. It was a double whammy.” Sighing Alice looked Lois in the eye.
“Now that you know why Perry didn’t tell you about Luthor, what exactly is your relationship with Lex?” Alice hadn’t missed a thing.
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